Marvin was checking himself out in the full length mirror and he had to concede he liked what he saw. He'd never worn a suit before in his entire life, but it seemed like the thing to do when you were about to receive a medal from the President of the United States.
He was turning around to take another peek at how his butt looked in the suit when the door burst open and Megafantasic Man came into the room.
"Oh, hey, bro!" Marvin called out. "You made it!"
"Indeed I have," Megafantastic Man. "I had just returned from my mission to the deepest depths of space when I heard the news and rushed over here."
"Or yeah, how'd that whole thing go?"
"Disaster of an incalculable magnitude was averted, thanks to me. Justice Woman and Chicken Man helped a little, but if we're being honest, it was mostly me. I had a sit down with the leaders of Frz and Qiron and I convinced them to halt hostilities while we conducted further investigations. I got the Frzian scientists to run a trace on their diplomat's spaceship and they discovered he had never made it to Qiron at all."
"He hadn't?" Marvin asked.
"No. Interestingly enough they discovered he had actually come to Earth where some unidentified villain lied to him and convinced him he was on Qiron and set the whole war into motion. Frz and Qiron then wanted to team up and launch a joint invasion of Earth, but I deterred them from that notion. I can be very convincing when I put my mind to it. Nonetheless, I assured them I wouldn't rest until the diabolical fiend who caused all the trouble in the first place was found and brought to justice. Whoever he is, he's going to rue the day he was born when I'm finished with him."
"Gee, that's super interesting," Marvin said. "Say, did you hear that I saved the world from an evil madman with a supercharged nuclear weapon while you were gone?"
"I did, and let me say I was immensely surprised. But congratulations, Marvin. Maybe there's hope for you yet."
"I've got to tell you, I couldn't have done it without you, bro. It was like you were right there with me in my mind."
"Inhabiting space with you in your mind? Now there's a disturbing thought." Megafantastic Man shuddered.
Megafantatic Man's assistant Lester walked into the room holding a phone. "Pardon the interruption, sir, but there's a call from your father."
"Okay, I'll take it from here, Lester." Megafantastic Man said as he held out his hand.
"Actually, he wishes to speak to your brother, sir."
"Marvin?" Megafantastic Man said with a start.
"Really?" Marvin said. "He wants to talk to me?"
"That's what he said," Lester confirmed.
Marvin took the phone with a sense of nervous anticipation and held it up to his ear.
"Hello? Dad? Is that really you?"
"Hello, Marvin," his Dad's voice said from the other end of the line.
"It is you! Wow! I don't think I've ever gotten a phone call from you before. This is the best day of my life! Are you coming to my award ceremony?"
"I'm sorry, Marvin. I can't make it. I've got much more important things that require my attention. But I just wanted to call and tell you, you did good, kid."
"Oh gosh!" Marvin said. "See, I told you you'd be proud of me, didn't I, Dad? Wait. You are proud of me, right?"
"I'm proud of you Marvin. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to let you go." The line went dead with a click.
YOU ARE READING
Super Screwup (ONC 2022)
HumorMegafantastic Man is the greatest superhero on Earth. His little brother Marvin is decidedly not. It's tough living in the shadow of greatness, and although Marvin possesses some super powers of his own, things just never seem to work out quite ri...
